Songwriter / lyricist Melissa Axel studied at Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music and went on to earn her master's degree in Interdisciplinary Arts on a full scholarship to Nova Southeastern University, creating the multimedia stage production The Human Adventure. The song "Fall This Hard" went on to be featured in the award-winning film Who's Afraid of Vagina Wolf?, and Axel wrote custom songs for the end credits of two Easterseals Disability Film Challenge shorts:Gia and Dragon and Whitney’s Wedding (BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM, Focus On Ability Short Film Festival in Sydney, Australia).

Before moving to L.A., Axel spent six years in Denver and was twice awarded scholarships to participate in UK songwriting workshops hosted by the WOMAD Foundation, co-writing the song "Every Place Is Home" with Peter Gabriel collaborator Andy White. With the support of nearly 200 Kickstarter backers, Axel raised over $7,000 to complete a limited edition vinyl album of original piano/vocal songs featuring string arrangements by award-winning composers Matthew Nicholl and Kailin Yong, as well as DeVotchKa’s Tom Hagerman on violin.

Axel is also Associate Producer on live-to-film concerts with celebrity singers at the Hollywood Bowl, such as Disney’s The Little Mermaid, La La Land, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, as well as A Whole New World of Alan Menken, working with the legendary songwriter on his retrospective solo show. An active member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the Society of Composers & Lyricists, Axel is currently producing a new project of short film musicals called DRIVEN: Modern Musicals About L.A. Artists and co-writing songs for two of the DRIVEN musical shorts: Hair Day and Slightly Composed.